Honest guv, I wasn't even there...
Due through Sony Music on August 2nd is the Region 1 triple DVD set: The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons. Of most interest to Bowie fans is the infamous broadcast from December 1974. Here's the breakdown of the three DVDs:
Disc 1
August 19, 1969 : Jefferson Airplane, Joni Mitchell, Steven Stills, David Crosby
July 13, 1970 : Sly & The Family Stone, Debbie Reynolds, Pancho Gonzales, Senator & Mrs. Fred Harris
New Dick Cavett Interview
Disc 2
July 19, 1969 : Janis Joplin, The Committee, Michael Thomas
June 25, 1970 : Janis Joplin, Raquel Welch, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Chet Huntley
August 3, 1970 : Janis Joplin, Gloria Swanson, Margot Kidder, Dave Meggyesy
Disc 3
August 11, 1970 : Stevie Wonder, Elsa Lanchester, Alain Delon, Tex Ritter
November 23, 1971 : George Harrison, Gary Wright, Ravi Shankar
December 5, 1974 : David Bowie
The original broadcast (which I think was actually the 4th, not the 5th as stated above) has been a favourite among fans via scratchy pirate tapes for some time. But, excepting Young Americans on the Best Of Bowie DVD, none of the rest of the broadcast has been made available officially.
Though no more detail about the exact content of the Bowie section of the DVD, than that above, has been released, we can reveal that it is most likely to include Young Americans, 1984 and the infamous interview with Dick Cavett.
Here's a bit about the performance which I did for BowieNet back in 2000. (12.13.2000 NEWS: BOWIE, CAVETT AND THE YEAR OF THE DIAMOND DOGS)
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"It was horrendous. I had no idea where I was, I couldn't hear the questions. To this day, I don't know if I bothered answering them, I was so out of my gourd."
So ran David's mid-Nineties painful recollection of his appearance on Dick Cavett's Wide World Of Entertainment twenty years earlier. I Personally found the whole thing fascinating, and although the drugs had clearly taken a hold, (think it was Lemsip...he was doing an awful lot of sniffing!) as a character he came across as fundamentally the same David Bowie that had chatted with Russell Harty almost two years earlier, but quite different to the David Bowie that Harty would encounter in his next meeting with the man. But that's another story.
The whole interview was high camp. Bowie was shy, nervous and flirty, and the campness was taken further by exaggerated shoulders, even more exaggerated cheekbones, a shock of blood-red hair and constant fidgeting. The finishing touch was a thin black cane, which it seemed Halloween Jack was trying to comfort by tenderly stroking, if not more than a little suggestively at times.
David would occasionally play to the strong Bowie contingent in the audience, but not at the expense of Dick Cavett, who seemed as enchanted by the aberration before him as the fans out front. The topic of conversation (a generous description) flitted between the aforementioned Bowie fans, who David applauded for their individuality, (even admitting getting the idea of the cane as a prop from them), to the purchase of the patent for the Black Noise Bomb by William Burroughs and its awful potential. David also mentioned nicking the idea to use Guy Peelleart for Diamond Dogs, after seeing Rock Dreams at Mick Jagger's house and plans for a book of his own based on his experiences on the Trans-Siberian-Express.
But, award for the best joke has to go to Mr Cavett when he suggested that the sleeve of Diamond Dogs was the picture that David sent in to the Draft Board. Three or four seconds later the statement was greeted with hearty laughter from Bowie who admitted "I just got that!". Almost as funny as the sight of a wide-eyed Earl Slick in huge flares and big hair, and Mike Garson also sporting a load of hair as they helped bring Bowie's soul vision to life. If you haven't seen it yet, you must track down this classic piece of Bowie television history. Great stuff.
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If you didn't manage to track it down in the four and a bit years since I wrote the above, your wait is finally over...or at least it will be on August 2nd. Meanwhile, check out a transcript of the interview over at the excellent Golden Years website.
Isle Of Wight 2004 DVD
I've had a few e-mails asking about the Bowie content of the upcoming Isle Of Wight 2004 DVD due next month. Well, despite being listed as being on the DVD at certain online stores, it looks like David will not be included on the IOW release after all.
